Greetings Wingmates, I hope that you are well, in your present circumstances!
I would like to apologize for my long silence, but as I shall explain, circumstances have been somewhat nontrivial as of late. I hope to edify you on some of what has taken place, and what may come in the near future.
For over a year now, a border conflict between the Triple Pact and the Frontier League has brought immeasurable
suffering and loss to the innocent. What started as territorial dispute over the worlds of Barret and Corvallis has
become a slowly unfolding astropolitical calamity. Nominally, the contested worlds were under the aegis of the
Voidmarch, a member of the Triple Pact along with the Judicate of Steel, and my nation, the Far Suns Coalition.
With one member of this alliance under attack, the remaining members were duty-bound to come to the aid of the Voidmarch.
What is more, the origins of this territorial dispute are unclear, and related to treaties dating back prior to
the colonization of this volume of space.
The conflicts over Barret and Corvallis ended in ceasefires with the majority of major population centers under League
control on both worlds, but with some ground still held by Pact defenders. It was hoped that the ceasefire would allow
time for proper negotiation. However, all diplomatic efforts so far have made no progress. In the meantime, forces on both
sides of the standoff continue to bring newly trained troops, surplus war machines from storage, and converted civilian
vessels to the front lines in an attempt to gain critical numerical advantage over one another if the detente should collapse.
Due to the earlier armed conflict, I was called upon to serve the Far Suns Coalition Navy as a military courier,
scout, and ELINT intelligence gatherer. After my tenure, I realized that, with the conflict showing only signs of accelerating,
that I would finally act upon my long term goal of finding a place that I could call
Home.
With this in mind, I sought out some place that I could begin to create a stable future. Torchship courier work,
while profitable and at time exciting, is rather dangerous and solitary. While the mindscape system does provide for a
very accurate simulation of physical reality via neural implants, for anyone with a modicum of self awareness, it does
not provide a substitute for actually walking around and stretching your legs, or breathing in atmosphere with your own
two lungs.
This is why even on vessels that could ostensibly be crewed by one there are typically far more crew
members - it provides interaction that is real, even if it generally is also inside a virtual environment.
The chance to find a place that I may consider a home came with the first rumors of a derelict yardship in the no-mans-void
between the Pact and the League systems. While purchasing a residence on a orbital colony or planetoid (or even my own
planetoid) would not be difficult with the hazard pay that I received for my wartime contributions for the FSCN,
I still felt drawn to exploring the potential star systems beyond what has been cataloged. As such, a mobile home base
is what I desired, and what a yardship, such as the one rumored to be orbiting an uninhabited system nearby, could be.
After much time tracking down the trail of rumors, I was able to confirm the location of the vessel. With my funds meager relative to the task at hand, I sought out to assess and secure the vessel, which I dubbed Petrichor. A salvage company was able to provide the necessary assistance, and with an arrangement to allow them the use of the internal dock as partial payment, I finally had a vessel I could truly live on. No accel-tank, no mindscape, just a grav deck and life support.
Unfortunately, as I was settling in and preparing for the future, the Frontier League located the vessel during their
scouting operations. Doing what they do best, they claimed it as their own, and I was forced to abscond, disabling all possible
systems during my flight. I left behind more than I could ever part with, and as such, I was irrevocably pushed onto the
warpath.
My initial plan to secure the Petrichor involved hiring a warp-capable carrier vessel to release me within short range
of the then-minimal defenses set up by the League, followed by a barrage of kinetic missiles and boarding pods.
I would then attempt to board the station with several dozen humanoid combat automatons, and either succeed in retaking
the vessel and jumping away, or die trying.
However, the League was more keen to the value of the yardship, and dispatched a larger escort force.
Alone, I could no longer take on the Leaguer forces. I would need to fight alongside others.
For the first time, I truly understood how vulnerable one feels without the proverbial "village" behind their backs.
I sought out comrades in my fight, and found them in the Raiders.
Over the past few months, I have understood the need for compatriots firsthand, while cooperating with Zumwalt's Raiders.
This is a small "pirate" group, although the term is somewhat inaccurate, as they do not prey on civilian shipping,
and their motivations are political in nature. Neither would the term "mercenary" be wholly descriptive of this organization,
as the goal is not for profit, but rather the removal of Frontier League influence, both overt and covert, on the frontiers
of the Terran JumpNet. Archibald Zumwalt, the leader of this organization, has taken action where no others would.
Citing the incompetent response of the Triple Pact to the invasion by the League, the Raiders now attack Frontier League
shipping, outposts, bases, and even military vessels and colonies. All of these actions are limited in scope, and only
intended to destroy the ability of the League to return to war footing, without causing civilian casualties, as much as possible.
As of this writing, I have, practically speaking, joined the Raiders full-time, and have been engaged in operations across
the Frontier to drive out the League. As an able torch-operator, I have provided scouting, time-critical deliver, and
hard-burn strikes with the Wishful Thinking, my courier torchship. I have also fought aboard the various vessels of the
Raider flotilla. Several times have fragments of hull come close to shredding me, but for now my luck has held out.
It is a fight that has changed me at my core, and I do not think I can rest until it is ended, or I reach my end.
When one makes a proverbial "deal with the devil", one must ask what must one pay in exchange for their wish?
In my case, for possesion of the Petrichor, if it is still intact after it is liberated, I will provide the Raiders
with its ample repair facilities, until such a time that the Raiders are destroyed, the Triple Pact provides official
military backing to the group, or 20 years have elapsed. For someone with no place in the universe, this is not
a large price to pay. What would you give up for the home you wanted?
In any case, the Frontier League has recognized that a guerrilla force has become a serious threat, and has
intensified efforts to seek out, corner, and destroy our flotilla. So far, they have had little luck, but one must
be ready to stand and fight. As such, I have not been able to transmit to Terra for the most part, as the need
for signals hygiene is paramount.
With my tenure in the Zumwalt Raiders unlikely to cease anytime soon, given the dogged nature of the Frontier League's
efforts to encroach into the Terran sphere of colonization, I am not able to say when I will be able to return to regular
transmissions to the Terran JumpNet Node. Much of this hinges upon the retaking of the Petrichor, as a secure site would
allow the creation of a less traceable connection. Our successes and failures so far have been balanced toward progess,
and with luck, we will accomplish our objective. Please stay tuned for further updates from the frontier.
Regardless of any outcome, always fly safe, Wingmates.